Price controled merchants for bandit weapons and shields

[Gwain]

I've ran into these kinds of mobiles in the game, they've been programmed to purchase certain weapons or armour items like swords or shields at a set price. usually one to three gold when you hand them one of the items they'd accept.

I'd like to suggest having these kind of mobiles replace or be added to the roads of the kingdoms instead of regular road merchants, meaning that they'd take the regular bandit dropped weapons and give a set fee to players, this would help get rid of the piles and piles of abandoned weapons in the roads. I'd suggest one gold each and have the mobiles randomly explain what they will accept.

[Duranamir]

I like this idea, have a few travelling scrap merchants who will buy weapons etc for set fees, they would then junk them rather than acting as a normal merchant and keeping them.

You could maybe set some limit on the value of the item they will buy to stop inadvertantly giving them magic weapons etc.

Duranamir

[Algon]

I could definitely see a Gondar buying scrap items like this to melt back down to usable ore...I wonder if it would be possible to to turn say "A silver shield" into him and have him give you back an ingot or two of useable silver? He could offer you either coins or to split the metal with you? Just an idea! Would make it easier for some of those crafters who do not have the ability to mine to get some usable metal

[Lirith]

I really love the idea of getting one or two ingots of metal back as a swap. It isn't always easy for people to source ingots from other players and this would offer an alternative source for that.

[Gwain]

I did not even think of that. I'd like to see that too.

[Manadhon]

While I can see the usefulness of this, I'd just like to point out that as it stands, you can make a fire through normal means, then 'cook' metal objects until they turn molten, and receive a chunk of whatever metal it is.

With the number of items out there, currently, that's a LOT of ore to be suddenly floating around. There would definitely have to be some sort of 'check' on this system to maintain balance.

Frankly, I just 'sac all' in rooms that have this stuff. I'm not sure if that's considered un-IC, and if told it is I'll stop, but in the meantime, it helps cut down the clutter.

[Gwain]

While I can see the usefulness of this, I'd just like to point out that as it stands, you can make a fire through normal means, then 'cook' metal objects until they turn molten, and receive a chunk of whatever metal it is.

You can't use metal that has been made by destroying objects in the fire, you can only use chunks of ore or smelted metals. Smithed weapons and armour can be smelted down with the smelt command to be used as ingots again with the smelting trade skill. Lumps of random metal cannot be used for any trade.

The idea here would be to turn in existing weapons dropped by npc's and either get compensated with money or ignots of metal that can be worked into various things. As it goes, right now there are a lot of things lying around and they are beautiful and quality items. The intention here would be to halve the surplus. I'm more for a coin solution, though I'd support a random ingot of metal now and then from these traders.

[Nylo]

What about a system like the guard at Rat Hill, where a qbit is used to track the amount of items turned in? Then for every ten items, say, you recieve one ingot. There'd have to be one qbit for each metal, and this would likely limit it to a single merchant. Also, I don't think it should provide ingots of quality higher than inferior, as this would be competing with those few PC miners left...they should still be the main source for high quality metals, in my opinion.

[Tarven]

What about a system like the guard at Rat Hill, where a qbit is used to track the amount of items turned in? Then for every ten items, say, you recieve one ingot. There'd have to be one qbit for each metal, and this would likely limit it to a single merchant. Also, I don't think it should provide ingots of quality higher than inferior, as this would be competing with those few PC miners left...they should still be the main source for high quality metals, in my opinion.

This actually doesn't sound bad at all.

[Gwain]

This could also work for wands, I'd gladly hand over a wand to a merchant for five or ten platinum or something of equivalent value.

[Selveem]

This could also work for wands, I'd gladly hand over a wand to a merchant for five or ten platinum or something of equivalent value.

Especially since wands couldn't even be given away at the last Mystran Magical Market.

[Tarven]

Just for the record, you can (and very much should) send any and all wands via magical post to Manadhon, for proper.. uh... disposal. Wands have a very serious accidental discharge issue. You wouldn't want your kid to get a hold of a wand, right? Promise. <.<

But yeah no, there are shops that deal in magical items. I can think of at least one that should be able to buy wands? Though to be fair, I'm not sure on what the economy of that town looks like.

[Gwain]

The idea here is not to sell the wands but make them a tradeable asset much like trading with bandit swords and items was proposed. Though it would be nice to sell them or trade them with other pc's the reality is that if you sell them no one usually buys them and very few pc's will trade for them. Having an incentive to turn them in for rewards and then have the code junk them could be very useful.

[Tarven]

I'd gladly hand over a wand to a merchant for five or ten platinum

My point is, you can do this <.< It's called a wand vendor. Though you'd have to leave the WD general area to do so, I think. And also, it doesn't junk them, so a PC could come along and buy them. Which... you know.. is better.

[Gwain]

I would not expect a wand exchanging mobile to be in Waterdeep, so yes, you would need to go somewhere else to trade them in. I think its great that you can sell wands to a npc merchant in the game, however the idea here would be to give players the option to do something constructive with wands they don't need. The main point of this thread is to find interesting ways to dispose of some items that have little demand for sale. Though its debatable if these ideas can be used as of now, they're being drummed up as alternatives to selling items for the sake of selling them. There are some exceptions, I have been pleased that almost sever random quest reward I've sold has been repurchased, meaning that someone out there is using them or has a use for them. However, random droppables from the bandits or other miscellaneous items usually stack up in places, it would be great to have a way other than selling them to get rid of them.

[Tarven]

This could also work for wands, I'd gladly hand over a wand to a merchant for five or ten platinum or something of equivalent value.

This is what you originally said, and this is what I was going on. What you said here, "Handing over a wand to a merchant for five or ten platinum."

Yes. That is what you can currently do. It's called vendoring/selling. As far as 'something of equivalent value'? Like what?

[Gwain]

Yes. That is what you can currently do. It's called vendoring/selling. As far as 'something of equivalent value'? Like what?

Personally? I would not mind receiving a one time set cash payout for junking a wand (which is what I meant from your quote of me above) But I'd really go for ship or caravan tokens for unused wands. That's just what I'd like, or a nice potion.

[Tarven]

I guess I could see the potion thing as being neat. However, with my thief, I enjoy buying wands from the shop. Wands are fun. Though UMD can be a pain in the butt to level, and expensive. All the more reason to keep them around. Not that rogue classes are typically taken into account for things.

Tokens is an interesting concept, I suppose. Though why not sell to a vendor and use the plat to buy tokens? I guess that's what I'm failing to see. The actual usefulness of this.

[Trillarel]

EDIT: Piles of stuff anywhere annoy the **** out of me.

I agree that there should be some traveling merchants on the roads who would buy bandit weapons. Same goes for duergar weapons in Mithral Hall.

The idea with ingots is good too.

As for more tradeable items - spell components, furs, wands... I'd love to have 1-2 mobiles in FK who'd buy any given item. I'm not saying you should be able to sell everything in WD, but there should be someplace that takes the item. If it exists, there should be demand for it, shouldn't it?

[Casamir]

I favour this. Though, the weapon rate should be at most a silver, I think electrum and cold would add up too quickly. As for wands, what if they could be transmuted down into base spell components? That wand of fireball gives you sulphur, and so on.